Cousin Pons | Fiction - www.zzdbook.com

Cousin Pons

Nov 27, 2025 4:07 AM

Author:Honoré de Balzac

Cousin Pons

Mild, harmless and ugly to behold, the impoverished Pons is an ageing musician whose brief fame has fallen to nothing. Living a placid Parisian life as a bachelor in a shared apartment with his friend Schmucke, he maintains only two passions: a devotion to fine dining in the company of wealthy but disdainful relatives, and a dedication to the collection of antiques. When these relatives become aware of the true value of his art collection, however, their sneering contempt for the parasitic Pons rapidly falls away as they struggle to obtain a piece of the weakening man's inheritance. Taking its place in the Human Comedy as a companion to Cousin Bette, the darkly humorous Cousin Pons is among of the last and greatest of Balzac's novels concerning French urban society: a cynical, pessimistic but never despairing consideration of human nature.

Reviews

Her novels are still very much to be enjoyed ... Any writer who can both educate and thrill a reader of any age deserves to be remembered and find new fans ... One only has to look at the TV/Media to see that the appetite for this kind of writing is still very much there

—— Matt Bates , WH Smith Travel

An exciting tale and Jean Plaidy tells it with accurate knowledge

—— Times Literary Supplement

Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama

—— New York Times

Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticiy of detail and depth of charaterization has become one of the country's most widely read novelists

—— Sunday Times

Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting

—— Observer

One of England's foremost historical novelists

—— Birmingham Mail

An excellent story

—— Irish Press

A penetrating and thoughtful study of Catherine de'Medici

—— Northern Daily Telegraph

'Irrestistably engaging'

—— Kirkus

'Witty and intelligent...just the thing for a lazy summer day'

—— Newsday

Genuine wit and charm

—— Image

Witty novel about life and love after divorce, Hollywood-style.

—— Daily Express

A bitchy and entertaining look at life in La-La Land

—— The Sun

A perfect poolside read

—— New Woman

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